No Vacation

Some have said that those who ridicule the homeless should try being homeless. I disagree. For several reasons, I do not believe that any more people than absolutely necessary should ever attempt homelessness. As long as someone who is homeless would prefer to be sheltered, there is more homelessness than there should be. This is something that society needs no more of.

There really is no way to ‘try’ homelessness anyway. Someone is either homeless or not. Spending a night under a bridge without losing the security of a home to return to afterward will by no means makes someone an expert. Spending a few or several nights under a bridge might provide more insight into the basics of such a lifestyle, but is still no substitute for the real thing.

Homelessness in no vacation. Otherwise, it would be more popular. Backpacking and camping are popular only because those who do it start out well outfitted, and get to go home afterward. Traveling to places far away from home is popular too, but is preferably done with even more than the comforts of home. Someone who vacations in Paris is no more homeless than Parisian.

Those who are inexperienced with homelessness are fortunate. Hopefully, none of them will ever need to experience it nearly as intimately as a tourist experiences Paris. Those who are so deficient of civility and compassion for humanity as to ridicule or otherwise express unfounded disdain for all collective homeless people should instead be examining their own inadequacies.

That seems to be a common theme. Those who complain the most have the most to complain about. Even if it were possible to ‘try’ homelessness, doing so would not provide much practical insight for those unwilling to use it, who are so intent on contempt of others.